YAY! DIYhttp://yaydiy.com
Because Handmade is Fun...Tue, 01 May 2012 17:49:35 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2Martha Stewart’s Mac & Cheesehttp://yaydiy.com/2012/05/martha-stewarts-mac-cheese/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/05/martha-stewarts-mac-cheese/#commentsTue, 01 May 2012 17:49:35 +0000Erinhttp://yaydiy.com/?p=5031Continue reading →]]>The one thing I can never, ever get right is homemade Mac and Cheese. Ever. It curdles, its grainy, its too baked. But I never give up, because I just love it. I recently found this recipe from Martha Stewart for stove top Mac and Cheese and I decided to give it a try! I have to say… this is probably the CLOSEST I’ve ever come to making really good homemade mac and cheese. My only complaint is that it was more creamy than cheesey. I think that next time I would cut the milk, either by a quarter or maybe by half. But other than that, the recipe was good. Creamy and tasty, so if that’s what you’re looking for, give it a try! The recipe says that you should use 3/4 of a pound of pasta, but it makes ALOT of sauce. Definitely use a whole pound of pasta. I ended up cooking more and adding it in when I realized that it was SOOOOOO creamy. You can find the recipe from Martha Stewart here, and step by step photos after the jump!

First, you cook the onions:Because I know cooking things like milk and cheese are sensitive, I used my copper pot. It’s a risotto pot, but I thought its shape would be perfect for this! The pot is so amazing – not a thing stuck, it cooked it perfectly.

I mixed in the flour…And whisked in the milk….I used Cabot cheese, because its the best!

Finally I added the cheese, again, whisk, whisk, whisk!And, added in the pasta! I served it with pulled pork, yum, yum, yum!

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/05/martha-stewarts-mac-cheese/feed/1Internet Discovery: How to Throw A Shrimp Boilhttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/internet-discovery-how-to-throw-a-shrimp-boil/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/internet-discovery-how-to-throw-a-shrimp-boil/#commentsMon, 23 Apr 2012 21:03:21 +0000Liahttp://yaydiy.com/?p=5026Continue reading →]]>I had a post all ready to go for today, but then I saw this on The Hairpin – How to Throw a Shrimp Boil – and I had to change the schedule.

The post is a step-by-step on how to throw a shrimp boil. With our love of seafoodwell documented, it’s a no-brainer that this had to be shared immediately. The ingredients alone are amazing:

Ten pounds of shrimp

Five heads of garlic

One cup ground cayenne pepper

A case of cheap beer

The list goes on. It is literally so yummy sounding, I think I started to tear up because if I don’t have this in my life this summer, I have failed. Summer, please come now!

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/internet-discovery-how-to-throw-a-shrimp-boil/feed/0Just a little quiet…http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/just-a-little-quiet/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/just-a-little-quiet/#commentsFri, 20 Apr 2012 18:29:41 +0000Liahttp://yaydiy.com/?p=5021Continue reading →]]>In two years, this is the longest Erin and I have gone without posting! And we promise it’s for a good reason. We’re smack in the middle of a big, big change that we can’t wait to share with everyone. However, the time we normally spend writing and photo-editing, we have to dedicate to this super-secret project. But we promise it will be worth it!

I made a cake, and I thought it was so pretty. It was plain yellow cake, box mix, of course, with Dunkin Hines Chocolate Frosting. Almost no work on my part. But still. I love box mix cake. To me, its better than the fanciest cake you can buy. It’s just delicious.

And, I thought it was so pretty sitting on this pink depression era cake plate my sweet cousin gave me for my wedding. Some people put antiques on display. I like to use them. For everything. Including box mix cakes that you make on a Saturday for no reason at all. Well, maybe to fatten my husband up. I guess that’s the real reason.

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice/feed/0Here, Piggy, Piggyhttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/how-to-make-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/how-to-make-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/#commentsMon, 16 Apr 2012 15:26:31 +0000Erinhttp://yaydiy.com/?p=4991Continue reading →]]>It was Saturday, so I made a pork butt. What else do you do on Saturdays, anyways? Ok, so it wasn’t actually a pork butt. It was a pork shoulder, and I made pulled pork. And it was delicious.

Making pulled pork is actually not that hard at all. Trimming the shoulder takes a bit of time, and if you decide to make your own rub and BBQ, that takes a bit of time, too, but its certainly not difficult at all. The good thing about homemade rubs and BBQ sauce, is that there are so many ingredients, they’re quite forgiving. So you can totally miss something, or get something wrong, and chances are, it’ll be ok. So for all of you who are afraid to make these things from scratch, don’t be!

My sweet husband LOVES sweet, Kansas City style BBQ sauce, and lots of it. On pulled pork, I prefer the more vinegar-y sauces, the ones with a hint of mustard, but I found a recipe that he would like and went with it. And, it. was. good. Like really good. A perfect pulled pork sandwich. As you can see, I enjoyed mine with a layer of cold, crunchy cold slaw. I love how it cuts the sweetness and adds a cool crunch. It’s what I believe, makes a pulled pork sandwich the perfect summer BBQ food.

I mostly followed this recipe from the Huffington Post’s small kitchen college. It’s for everything DIY: the rub, the basting sauce and the BBQ sauce. But its not hard, and uses spices you probably already have in your cupboard. I saw mostly, because you were supposed to but the rub on the pork and then let it sit overnight. I didn’t realize this, so mine didn’t soak overnight. Next time, I’d take this extra step, just to see the difference. Step by step photos after the jump to help you out!

The recipe can be found here. As I said, I followed it pretty much, except for the whole night before thing.

TIME: This will take all day. If you want to serve it at 5, you should begin around 8 am or 9 am at the latest. Just in case your slow cooker takes longer than mine!

Here’s my 7.5 pound pork shoulder! I trimmed it way down, cutting off the gross skin and excess fat.

Some of the spices I used in the basting sauce and the rub! See, all things you have!

The rub, all mixed together. It’s mainly a mixture of red pepper and brown sugar. Sweet and spicey! I didn’t have Cayenne pepper, so I just left that out. It was fine. Rubbed all over the little piggy!

The basting sauce, all mixed together!The pork in the slow cooker, I basted it every couple of hours. It cooked for 4 hours on high, and about 3 hours on low.While cooking, I made the BBQ sauce. I added in Molasses, to give it some extra sweetness. The pork is done when it easily pulls apart with a fork – no effort required. Here it is! I pulled it all off the bone, then mixed in a some BBQ sauce. I left some on the side, to slather on top of our sandwiches!Enjoy!

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/how-to-make-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/feed/3The Last Honeymoon Installment: Mendoza, Argentinahttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/the-last-honeymoon-istallment-mendoza-argentina/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/the-last-honeymoon-istallment-mendoza-argentina/#commentsFri, 13 Apr 2012 03:56:32 +0000Erinhttp://yaydiy.com/?p=4913Continue reading →]]>If you’re a wine lover, you must, at some point, go to Mendoza. It was such an amazing experience. Steak, wine, more steak, and more wine. It’s similar to the Sonoma Valley, but also different in a few major ways. It has a big town square, like the Sonoma Square, and its wineries are all spread out around the region – they’re not on one main road, like in Napa. However, unlike Sonoma, you can’t just walk into wineries here. You have to call ahead and make a resversation at each one. The appointments are never just tastings – they’re always full tours. So get ready to see ALOT of barrells. But also get ready for people who are wonderful, friendly and exteremely passionate about their craft: winemaking. It was a little like hevean. And by a little, I mean, this is probably what heavan is like. At least my heavan.

Mendoza is fairly close to the Andes, with fabulous views of the mountains. So in addition to wine lovers, the town also attracts those who like adventure sports. The result is a town that’s well equipped to handle tourists from other coutnries, but one that doesn’t loose its Argentinian charm. It had plenty of hotels and resturaunts, late night hearty steak dinners, and beautiful cafes where you can sip a cup of coffee in the afternoon outside. Here’s a few photos. Enjoy!

Lunch our first day in Mendoza, where we discovered one of our most favorite bottles of wine. Ruca Malen Cabernet. We liked it so much, we went on a tour of Ruca Malen the next day. Even though we were in the region for Malbec, we really enjoyed some of the amazing cabs this region is producing. There were several that were just out of this world.

And, as you’ll see, my sweet husband was ALMOST sporting a full beard by this point.

More after the jump

Our first stop was Viña Cobos. I drank some full bodied cabs and malbecs. Delicious.

Our second stop was Bodega Ruca Malen, where we had a 5-course tasting lunch. It was Thanksgiving, so I felt good knowing that if I wasn’t having turkey, at least I was having something tasty! Ruca Malen is at the base of Andes with an amazing view. We sat outside during our lunch, and stared at this: These were glasses, waiting to be filled! And the steak course. It was incredible.

This is the view from the balcony of the winery, I love the long drive and how ou can see the Andes at the top of the photo.

I know, he’s really stunning. I’m very lucky.

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/the-last-honeymoon-istallment-mendoza-argentina/feed/0DIY Challenge: Jute Rughttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/diy-challenge-jute-rug/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/diy-challenge-jute-rug/#commentsThu, 12 Apr 2012 01:19:33 +0000Liahttp://yaydiy.com/?p=4970Continue reading →]]>Take a good look at this rug, from a retailer that shall remain nameless for the purposes of this particular post:

It’s a jute rug, with a fabric border. It retails for between $99.99 and $349.99 depending on the size. Which is normal for a rug. Rugs are expensive.

But. (And you knew this was coming.)

What if I told you that you can buy jute online for $6 a yard? And that the fabric can purchased for approximately $8 a yard on the high end. Wouldn’t you have a huge problem with paying more than $100 (at the minimum!) for something you can make for $25 – maybe less?

I’m sure you know my answer, or you wouldn’t be on our DIY blog!

For me, this is a big issue. I need a rug but I do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for it. And more that that, I really can’t. So I won’t! You saw my recent curtain post. And now I’m going to give the floor the same treatment. It’ll take me a couple weeks, but stay tuned. I’m going to wipe the floor with this one. (Bad pun! Terrible, terrible pun!)

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/diy-challenge-jute-rug/feed/0How to: Lamb Chops and Twice-Baked Potatoeshttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/how-to-lamb-chops-and-twice-baked-potatoes/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/how-to-lamb-chops-and-twice-baked-potatoes/#commentsTue, 10 Apr 2012 23:34:57 +0000Liahttp://yaydiy.com/?p=4964Continue reading →]]>Though I don’t celebrate Easter in a truly religious way, I do always mark the holiday with a nice dinner usually consisting of a meat and a starch.

So this past Sunday, as the sun set after a long day spent outside, I was ready for something succulent and delicious to eat.

I stumbled upon these two incredibly easy recipes and while I’m tempted to reinterpret them for you here, I literally followed them to the letter and they came out so delicious I can’t possibly tinker with them. Here you can find the recipe for Lamb Chops with a balsamic reduction from AllRecipes.com, as well as Twice Baked Potatoes from FoodNetwork.com. Paired together, they are nothing short of heavenly (no pun intended!)

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/how-to-lamb-chops-and-twice-baked-potatoes/feed/0No Pane, All Gain: DIY Window Curtainshttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/diy-window-curtain/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/diy-window-curtain/#commentsFri, 06 Apr 2012 14:16:51 +0000Liahttp://yaydiy.com/?p=4937Continue reading →]]>As mentioned previously, slowly but surely I’ve been re-doing my living room trying to find an Anthropologie-like vibe on a dime store budget. After finishing the little touches to get the room in shape – namely a corner lamp, slipcovering the couches, and redoing an end table- I finally can turn my attention to the final, biggest elements to finish the room. First of those big elements? Dressing up these plain old windows.

My biggest challenge with the windows was simple: I didn’t want to spend ANY money. First of all, I don’t have it. Second, I just don’t believe strips of fabric that hang over blinds need to cost that much! Third, I had a somewhat disastrous time recently trying to sew something straight (I’m still learning!) so basically I wanted something professional looking without sewing and on the cheap.

Which after some strategizing….I think I acheived! Check it out!

(Please ignore the fact that my couch is in a slight state of disarray in this photo and is minus its slipcover. The dog decided that the couch was the perfect place to drag a piece of raw chicken from the garbage and play with it just as I was about to start snapping away.)

The good news is, you can do it too. This project only took about three hours and $27 (or as I like to think about it, three Chipotle burrito bowls). Exponentially less then you’d pay for “real” curtains anywhere! Here’s what you’ll need:

Curtain rod and tie-backs (I bought mine at K-Mart for about $16)

A drill to help secure the rod and tie backs to the wall

Two fabric panels (I found a silky green fabric in my local fabric store for about $3 a yard. And I needed two yards, one for each panel. Total cost $6)

An iron

Stitch Witch (found at Michael’s for about $5)

Straight pins

Chalk

And here’s how you do it:

Step 1: First and foremost, you want to get your curtain rods and tie backs secured to the wall. Even though this particular set required the use of a drill, which I’m still not totally comfortable with, all I had to do is drill straight enough for the drywall screw to go in. It wasn’t hard! Whatever set you use should have its own instructions, so just follow those and you should be fine. And if you’re really not comfortable using power tools (if they are required), do what I used to do and bribe someone to come over and do it, and then give them lots of alcohol to say thanks.

Step 2: Next, you just want to make sure that you have enough room at the top of your curtain panel so that the rod runs through it. The simplest way to do that is take your rod, wrap the top of the fabric around, and pin it in place. VERY IMPORTANT: Do not make this tight. The rod should have plenty of room to slip in and out. Once you’ve got a few pins in, remove the rod and set it aside. Going straight across the top, secure the rest of the fabric making sure you keep a uniform amount of fabric folded over, like so:

Step 3: After you get all the pins in, test the curtain on the window to make sure you haven’t pinned anything too short, that it hangs evenly, etc.

Step 4: Once you’re happy with the pins, time to get everything glued down. First, iron your fabric so it’s nice and flat, and also iron the top to get a nice hard crease.

Step 5: Using a piece of chalk, mark where your fabric ends under the pins. This is so you can line up the Stitch Witch correctly.

Step 6: Using your chalk marks as a guide, lay down your Stitch Witch. Usually you put a damp cloth over the fabric and then iron it all down. However, in this case I was using a silky fabric so I just very carefully ironed it down without the damp cloth so I wouldn’t ruin the fabric. Use your best judgment if you are using a sensitive fabric too.

Lining up the Stitch Witch

The fabric glued down

Step 7: Last step! Insert your rod back into the panels and hang those babies up! Tuck the fabric into your tie-back, step back and admire your handiwork. And fatter wallet.

]]>http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/diy-window-curtain/feed/1Knit Purl, Knit Purlhttp://yaydiy.com/2012/04/knit-purl-knit-purl/
http://yaydiy.com/2012/04/knit-purl-knit-purl/#commentsThu, 05 Apr 2012 14:43:29 +0000Erinhttp://yaydiy.com/?p=4949Continue reading →]]>So many friends of mine are having babies right now. I’ve always wanted to knit cute things for my friends’ babies, like cute hats and booties, but I’ve been a bit slow on the learning-to-knit-anything-but-a-scarf front. And by slow, I mean, four years later, I still can only knit things in a straight line.

I decided not to let that get in my way, and about a month ago started knitting a baby blanket. I’m not sure which friend it will go to, I think it depends on when I ACTUALLY finish it. (So friends, don’t hold your breath!) Four weeks later, I haven’t gotten too far, but I have made some progress. I decided to knit the blanket in different colored pastel squares, and then sew them together. Here’s a few, aren’t they cute?

I’m using a basic stockinette stitch – knit one row, purl one row. The stitch does cause the ends to roll, but I imagine they will flatten out as I sew them together. I’m also not COMPLETELY sure that they’re the same size. Actually, I’m pretty sure they’re not. So, we’ll just have to see how this goes, when I get to sew them together! Stay tuned!